Expense management that works with Master Builder

What makes expense management AI-native?

AI-native expense management proposes the coding itself rather than matching a transaction against rules someone maintains. It reads the receipt line by line and infers the coding from what was bought and from the structure and history of your own accounting system, so a new vendor is coded correctly the first time it appears and review means confirming rather than re-coding. What it reads is the card transaction and the receipt behind it, line by line. The difference shows up on the first transaction from a supplier nobody has set up. A rules engine has no pattern for it, so it queues the item and waits for a person. Vergo reads what was actually bought and proposes the coding from the structure already in Master Builder, then shows why it chose it — so the review is a confirmation, not a re-coding. More on the category in expense management.

How does it work with Master Builder?

Vergo works with Master Builder in both directions: it reads your job structure out, and coded card spend, reimbursements and AP invoices go back in. However Master Builder is run — on your own servers or hosted — connecting it is our job, not a project for your team. Vergo reads your jobs and cost codes from Master Builder, codes against it, and posts back coded entries — so what lands in Master Builder is already costed to the right work rather than a lump for someone to break up at month end. New jobs and cost codes appear as they are created, so the field is never choosing from a stale list. The same connection carries all three products — see everything Vergo does with Master Builder.

What does this actually look like day to day?

Someone in the field buys materials and sends a photo of the receipt. Vergo reads the lines — not just the total — and proposes the jobs and cost codes they belong to, along with the cost type. If one receipt covers two jobs, it splits. The reviewer sees the proposal and the reason for it, confirms, and the entry is in Master Builder the same day. Nobody types a code, and nothing waits for a weekly expense report.

Do we have to change cards?

No. Most platforms in this category issue their own card and monetise the interchange, which means switching cards is the price of the software. Vergo connects the cards the business already holds — corporate cards, fuel cards, and personal cards used for reimbursement. Connecting your existing cards involves no card applications, no re-issuing and no banking change, so the issuer, the credit line and the rewards stay exactly where they are.

What changes at month end?

The work moves from the end of the month to the moment of spend. Because coding happens at capture and syncs to Master Builder as it goes, close is a review of exceptions rather than a backlog of uncoded transactions. Every coding shows why it was chosen, so a reviewer confirms in seconds instead of re-coding by hand, which is what makes a reviewer able to move quickly through it. Card spend, employee reimbursements and AP invoices run through one coding model — same coding, same review, one reconciliation — and payment stays on the rails you already use.

Is this the same as reimbursements?

The difference is whose money was spent. Expense management handles the company card; reimbursement handles an employee's own card or cash. The same coding model runs both, which is why one reconciliation covers them — but a business shopping for one is rarely shopping for the other. If you are looking at the other side of that line, see AP automation for Master Builder and reimbursements and expense reports for Master Builder.

Who runs Master Builder?

Master Builder, from Sage, is run by small and mid-sized businesses in construction. If your finance team lives in it, the expense layer should adapt to it — not the other way round. Vergo integrates with every ERP and accounting system, so the answer does not change if you move.